Lions interest in Asante Samuel may have been greatly exaggerated

On Thursday afternoon, we shared a report from Mike O’Hara of FOXSportsDetroit.com indicating the Lions were interested in trading for Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel.

It’s a bit later Thursday afternoon and O’Hara has filed another report on the Lions and Samuel. This one brings the exact opposite news, with a source telling O’Hara that there’s “not a chance” the Lions make a deal for Samuel. While cornerback remains a spot of need for Detroit, they are apparently not interested in making another run at a player they almost landed in a trade last year.

Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network is hearing the same thing, which either means the Lions really aren’t interested in making a deal or that they are trying to get the asking price down from the third-round draft pick that the Eagles are reportedly looking for as compensation. Both make sense, although the former might be a bigger factor given the size of Samuel’s cap number and the Lions’ relatively tight situation with the cap.

La Canfora does confirm Tennessee’s interest in trading for Samuel, although he cautions that nothing is imminent. That sounds like a good place to leave things for a player who has been on the trading block for the better part of a year without anything taking him out of Philadelphia.

Jennifer, do you know anything about sports? Or do you just try to put a three sentence idiotic comment in whenever you have a chance too? Obviously there is a market for him b/c teams are inquiring about his availability. If a team trades with Philadelphia its because they want too. DRC didn’t make the probowl either now did he..

So whether the Lions sign Asante Samuel or passon him, Michael O’Hara was out in front with a bold prediction that proved to be correct!

Last we heard on this, Mayhew had no intention of paying the inflated salary Samuel was demanding. The Mayhew style seems to be to offer someone like this a 1 year deal, with the idea of a major contract the following year if the player walks the talk.

I prefer this over the Millen style – look for ways to overpay for failure, and then blame everyone else.